A modest baronial mansion and estate of NE Stirling, Leny lies to the north of Kilmahog, 1¼ miles (2 km) northwest of Callander. Leny House began as an L-plan tower house in 1513, was strengthened in 1691 and largely rebuilt 1845-46 by David Bryce (1803-76) as a Jacobean-style mansion. Part of the harled 16th C. original can still be seen on the north side. Bryce first used a round entrance-tower here, which became a familiar feature in his subsequent houses.
Leny was long the property of the Buchanan family, most notable amongst whom was Francis Buchanan (1752 - 1829) who explored NE India, wrote several works of natural history and introduced many unusual plants to the grounds at Leny. An earlier Francis Buchanan was hanged by the Jacobites in 1746 when the Head of Clan Stewart was shot an Leny. The house was restored in 1998 and is now used as a family-run self catering business.
The grounds include sundial (c.1630) and a walled-garden dating from the 18th century. The site of the old Leny Castle lies a half-mile (0.8 km) to the southeast next to the A84 trunk road.
A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.
Leny, a mansion and a mountain pass in Callander parish, Perthshire. The mansion, 1 mile NW of Callander village, in a small romantic glen with a waterfall, was enlarged and beturreted towards the middle of the present century. Its owner, John Buchanan Hamilton, Esq., F.R.S., of Bardowie and Spittal (b. 1822), holds 3330 acres in Perth, 582 in Stirling, and 150 in Dumbarton shires, valued at £1334, £926, and £220 per annum. The Pass of Leny, 2½ miles WNW of Callander, strikes north-by-westward to Loch Lubnaig; takes up the Callander and Oban railway; is traversed by the impetuous northern head-stream of the Teith; and has a narrow, alpine character, flanked by wooded precipices, and overhung on the W side by the bold acclivi. ties of Ben Ledi (2875 feet). It formed in olden times a portal to the Highlands, so strong that a few brave men could have held it against an army, and is described by Sir Walter Scott in his Legeen of Montrose.—Ord. Sur., sh. 38, 1871.
A 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available and illustrates the estates situation and proximity to Callendar.
A modest baronial mansion and estate of NE Stirling, Leny lies to the north of Kilmahog, 1¼ miles (2 km) northwest of Callander. Leny House began as an L-plan tower house in 1513, was strengthened in 1691 and largely rebuilt 1845-46 by David Bryce (1803-76) as a Jacobean-style mansion. Part of the harled 16th C. original can still be seen on the north side. Bryce first used a round entrance-tower here, which became a familiar feature in his subsequent houses.
Leny was long the property of the Buchanan family, most notable amongst whom was Francis Buchanan (1752 - 1829) who explored NE India, wrote several works of natural history and introduced many unusual plants to the grounds at Leny. An earlier Francis Buchanan was hanged by the Jacobites in 1746 when the Head of Clan Stewart was shot an Leny. The house was restored in 1998 and is now used as a family-run hotel.
The grounds include sundial (c.1630) and a walled-garden dating from the 18th century. The site of the old Leny Castle lies a half-mile (0.8 km) to the southeast next to the A84 trunk road. 
